Author: Dr. Fazl Ahmad Ahmadi
An Overview of “Confucianism Religion” (Part 4)
3. Moral Orders of Confucianism
The fundamental focus of all religions is humanity, and most religious orders concern human conduct and behavior. In other words, all religions address the concept of the ideal human being, which is predominantly explored in the mystical and philosophical texts of various faiths, particularly in Islam. According to Confucius, the perfect individual epitomizes humanity. This ideal person is referred to as “(Chong Tzu)” in Chinese and possesses exceptional qualities and a distinguished position. Confucius states that such an individual is adorned with the essence of perfection and resembles a son who cherishes the love of his parents, a father who treats his children with fairness and kindness, an officer who demonstrates unwavering loyalty to his commander, a husband who remains devoted and intimate with his wife, and a friend who exhibits sincerity and courtesy towards his companions. In Confucius’s view, a perfect human being embodies all the noble qualities of humanity. Consequently, the followers of Confucius revere him as the epitome of human perfection.
Confucius introduces the following five characteristics for the perfect human being:
1. Self-esteem.
2. Mercifulness.
3. Purity in intention.
4. Enthusiasm in action.
5. Good behavior.
Also, Confucius has his own methods to reach the position of honor and dignity of humanity:
1. Love: that never hurts me.
2. Wisdom: that never gives me doubt.
3. Courage: that never caused fear in my heart.
Confucius used to say: I do not claim to have divine wisdom and piety, the only thing I say about myself is that I have no doubt in my way, and I never fail to teach others, this is the end of my actions and that’s it.
In addition to spreading beliefs that later became a special religion and ritual, Confucius was also a teacher of ethics; but he valued himself more than being a teacher; so the people who were with him said about him: Confucius cannot be limited to the rank of a teacher, and in Confucianism, the spirit of faith is a religious truth. He showed interest in the precision and care and religious rituals of his age So that he can be considered as a perfect example of religion and his belief in religious matters is limited to a kind of self-restraint and caution; Because in his principles and opinions, he has appeared to be only a rational philosopher and a follower of the rules of humanity, and it is difficult to give him a high and mystical rank. Confucius did not like any act that was contrary to common sense and did not guarantee a purpose and a social goal in worships, rites, and outward customs. He did not show much interest in deeds, actions, sins, rewards and supernatural issues.
Also, Confucius has been called the Socrates of China that his religion only deals with human beings and human affairs.
Confucius said: I seek the unity of the whole. He was of the opinion that a person should be careful in choosing and know good and bad and he said: fruitless child and unfaithful wife are those who are devoid of truth, the greatest moral art is to respect the ancestors and their memory should be appreciated and Beloved, fathers and mothers are the representative and embodiment of the ancestors and as long as they are alive, the children must have complete obedience and sincerity towards them, the young children must sleep without mosquito nets to attract mosquitoes to them and their parents can sleep comfortably; Because old age hurts the adults, the king should establish a means of education, peace and health for the people and always keep justice in mind.
Once Confucius saw a woman who was sitting next to a grave and was crying, He asked her why she was crying. The woman said: My father-in-law was killed by a tiger here, and my husband and child also suffered the same fate. Confucius said: In that case, why are you sitting in such a dangerous place? The woman said: There is a fair and merciful government here. Confucius said to his students: Keep this saying in your mind and know that an oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger.
The authors believe that Confucius has five important moral precepts and even called some of these precepts eternal, these five precepts are: 1. Benevolence, to work only for the benefit of people; 2. Charity, so that you don’t like what you don’t like for others; 3. sociability, so you don’t forget to be polite when dealing with people; 4. Wisdom, making only knowledge and right thinking your guide; 5. Right-thinking, to maintain honesty and integrity in everything you do; Because without it the world will not be stable.
One of the important discussions of Confucianism is the issue of the permission to convert to another religion, therefore, millions of Confucian followers can be found who have converted to other faiths, including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam or other religions, in fact Muslims who are currently present in China, at first they were followers of Confucius and later became Muslims.
Confucius’ moral orders were many and complex, this complexity and importance of his moral issues caused the question to arise, is Confucianism a religion or ethics? Of course, the answer to this question is difficult; because it depends on our definition of religion, in which broad or narrow sense to explain it, however, this issue should be kept in mind that the religious aspect cannot be excluded from Confucius’s beliefs. Although he has many orders in moral fields, he also has special orders in matters related to religion.
Continues…
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